Sharp County record., 1887-07-21
rALMAGE'S SERMON.
,ta Of the Chase as Illustrative
q the Truths of the Gospel.
and Personal Conservation the
,ons Needed for the Capture OF
Lost Souls-The Sinners
Death Leap.

tsa iopIc for recent discourse at
,rooklyn Tabernacle, Rev. I. DeWitt
oe chose the sport of hunting, by
fo Illustrate the pursuit and capt
of mems souls for Christ. His text
was a mighty hunter before the Lord
sis 4. Q.
Talmage said:
our day, hunting is a sport; but IN
/, ,ands and the times infested with
haasfs. it was a matter of life or
: with the people. 1t was very dif-
: 4 from going out on a sunshiny after
with a patent breech.l loader to
reed. birds on the flats, when
I,es and Diomedes went out to clear
and of lions and tigers and bears,
! ext sets forth Nimrod as a hero,
It presents him with broad shoul-
and shaggy apparel, and sun
med face, and arm bun ched with
! ,le-"a mighty hunter before the
- --
bink he used the bow and arrow
great su ccess practicing archery.
! ave thought if it is such a grand
! and such brave thing to clear Wlid
Is ont of a country, if it is not a bet
and Drawer thing to hunt down ana
row those great evils of society that
. ,to1tino the land with fierce eye, and
dv paw, and sharp tusk, and
spring. l have wondered II
. is not such thing as gos
hunting, by which those who have
flying from the truth may be capt
q for God and Heaven. The LORD
! 3 in bis sermon used the art OF
ing for an illustration when he SAID;
Iwill make you fishers Of men.
ID so ! think | have authority Tor
hunting as an illustration OF gospel
b. and ] pray God that there may DE
a man in this congregation who
begin to study gospel archery, OF
Y m it may after awhile be said: he
u a mighty hunter before the Lord"
u wv much awkward Christian work
q is done in the worldl How many
people there are who drive souls
\ v frcm Christ, instead of bringing
d 10 him!-religious blunderers who
It more than they right. Their gun has
,oked barrel and kicks as it goes OIL
e. are like clumsy comrade who gees
u with skillful hunters; at the very
J lent he ought to be most quiet he is
d king an alder or falling over log,
ID frightening away the game. How
ei Christian people have ever learned
lesson of which l read at the begin
b, of the servce-how that the Lord
us Christ at the well went from talk
Aabout a cup of water to the most prac'
d religious truths, which won the WON
q soul for God Jesus in the wilderness
b breaking broad to the people. ltWas
dli b cad; it was very light bread, and
Nyeast had done its work thoroughly.
sist, after h. had broken the bread,
u TO the peope:
ware Of the yeast or Of the leaven Of the
hdseesi
a, natural transition it was; and how
Sly they all u ,derstood him! But how
" Christian people who understand how
Hasten the truths of God and religion
'sie souls of mcn Truman Osborne,
aof tho evangelsts who went through
u country some years ago, had won,
tsful art in the right direction. He
20 to my flthor's house one day, and
NIe we were all seated in the room, he
N:
Ildr Talmage, are all your children
eistiansP
either said: "Yes, all but D9Witt."
iien Truman Osborne looked down into
fire place, and began to tell story OF
Horm that came on the mountains, and
Sthe sheep were in the fold; but thcre
ID one lamb outside that perished in the
I'm. Had he looked me in the eve,
nald have been angered when he told
that story; but he looked into the fire.
lie, and it was so pathetically and
Iutifully done that l never found any
ice until | was sure l was inside the
n, where the other sheep are.
no archers of old times studied their
D They were very precise in the mat
b The old books gave special directions
70 how the archer should go and as to
At an archer should do. He must
i'd erect and firm, his left foot little
dvance of his right foot. With his left
ID he must take hold of the bow in the
IDLE, and then with the three fingers
tho thumb of his right hand he
uld Law hold Of the arrow and aflix it to
I string so precise was the direction
sn. But how clumsy we are about re.
BUS work. How little skill and care
exercise! How often our arrows miss
markl Oh, that we might learn the
of doing good and become "mighty
tiers before the Lordp'
i the first place, if you want to be ef-
Isual In doing good, you must be very
% Of your weapon. There was some
ig very fascinating about the archery
)lden hines. Perhaps youdo not know
at they could do with the bow and ar
Y. Why the chief battles fought by
English Plantagenets were with the
g bow. They could take the arrow of
lshed wood, feather it with the plu me
q bird, and then 1t would fly from tho
v-striug of plated silk. The broad
ds OF Agincourt, and Solway Moss,
Neville's Cross, heard the loud thrum
the archer's bow-string.
ow, NY Christian friends, we have a
yhtier weapon than chat. 1t is the ar
Of the Gospel; it is q sharp arrow;
Is straight arrow; it is feathered
% tnewing of the dove of Gods spirit;
Lies from bow made out of the wood
the CROSS. As far as l can estim ate it
brought down 40O,OOO,0OO souls. Paul
Nv how to bring the notch of that ar
onto that bow-string, and its whir
8 heard through the Corinthia n
aters, and through the court
IN, until the knees of Felix
'cked together, 1t was that arrow
u STUCK in Luther's heart when he
t0 0nIs AH1h i.